The Blind Side

The movie Blind Side is a non-fiction story about the life of Michael Oher and his struggles to overcome life's obstacles such as social problems, the struggle for human dignity, human relationships and coming of age. The plot of the film is that a teenager Michael Oher (played by Qinton Aaron) has been surviving on the streets with little closing and no place to live. He is spotted by Leigh Anne Touhy (played by Sandra Bullock) and as she questions her children she learns that Michael, commonly called Big Mike by other kids, is a classmate of her kids at Wingate School a school predominately for those with social status. On that first meeting she insists that Michael, who is scantily dressed for the winter, get into the car and takes him home for the night. Once there she is a little scared that he will do something, but in the morning finds all the covers neatly folded on the end of the couch and Michael gone. This first moment of kindness on Leigh Anne's part, and the unfamiliar behavior expected by Michael, to later draw the family to make Michael a member of the Touhy family.

Although there are extreme differences in background, Michael accepts to live with the Touhy's an in turn undergoes a entirely new set of challenges. Some of those challenges include, fitting into the school, trying to pass classes to be able to play football, and making friends. SJ Touhy (played by Jae Head) becomes Michael's closest friend and helps him to overcome many of the social obstacles. At one point Sean Touhy (played by Tim McGray) mentions that Michael is "basically a fly in a bowl of milk at Wingate". As the story goes on Michael eventually begins to change the lives of the Touhy's as they make discoveries into their own lives and how they have grown accustom to having money and overlooked those who don't. An example of this is when Michael questions what happens to all the uneaten food at the restaurants the Touhy's own. Leigh Anne even stands up to her lifelong friends as they question her intention with having Michael around all the time and admits that Michael is changing her life.

This film gives you the sense of caring and makes one take a look at their own life and how one might overcome adversity to become something much greater in life. The background in which you come from does not make the person. It is how the person treats the world that makes a difference. Yes Michael becomes a football player (high school, college & later NFL), but at one point they had to ask him if he even wanted to play football. It's a great real life success story, but one has to look past the achievements of Michael Oher at the real meaning of what the Touhy family did. It a movie about the best in humanity and how, if those who are blessed with financial and spiritual resources reach out and share those blessings, they can change the course of someone's life for the good.

Sandra Bullock is rapid and compelling in this true story of tragedy-turned-triumph. The Blind Side is an enjoyable that some may consider a bit too soft or safe. Though it won't completely win moviegoers over, they'll still be in awe of the bold lead actress.

I don't usually feel the need to leave comments, but this movie was just to well done not to. I went in expecting more football, more hits & highlights & as a huge football fan that was one of the main draws of the movie. The football actually takes a back seat to a wonderful story that is well executed by everyone involved. I've always thought Sandra Bulluck has been over-rated, but she nails this role & deserves some recognition down the road. The movie is so fantastic that anyone and everyone can relate and feel connected to the characters. The ideal target audience for this movie is children and adults alike. This movie should be an Oscar contender but I know these types of movies rarely ever win. Definitely deserves my vote!

I saw this last night at a screening and found it to be a very inspiring movie. I love sports movies as well as movies based on true stories, so this film hit multiple buttons for me personally, but reactions of others leaving the theater seemed equally positive.

As with any sports movie, you must have an underdog to cheer for, and Michael Oher is that underdog. Having been removed by CPS from his crack-addicted mother's home as a child and bounced from foster home to foster home, Oher has been staying on a friend's couch. He is reluctantly accepted to a private school when the football coach sees potential in him and pressures the school's admissions board to give him a chance.

Unfortunately, being an undereducated black youth in a predominantly white private school doesn't magically turn his life around, and in addition to struggling to understand his classes, he finds himself sleeping in an all night laundromat after the stay at the friend's house ends. While walking on a cold, rainy night , Oher is offered a ride and then a place to sleep for the night by the Leigh Anne Tuohy, whose children attend the same school Michael does. It's this single act of kindness that begins a chain of events that will change this underdog's life, eventually resulting in his being a top 2009 NFL draft pick and signing with the Baltimore Ravens.

The actors brought plenty of life to the characters they were playing. It was a pleasure to watch Tim McGraw as Sean Tuohy, making a somewhat minor character in the film memorable. Sandra Bullock's portrayal of Leigh Anne Tuohy was fascinating--I'd really love to meet Mrs. Tuohy in person. Jae Head as SJ became my favorite character in the movie, practically stealing the show as it were. Quinton Aaron's portrayal of Oher leans heavily to the strong, silent type, but there is a quiet grace and gentleness that comes through.

Obviously, nothing is quite as slick and clean as Hollywood plays it in movies like this, and there were issues and controversies surrounding the Tuohy family and the assistance they offered Michael Oher. Some of it is depicted in the movie, though not all, and there are many who will decry this film for that. It's a given that there is more to a story than what you see on the screen...condensing years into a two hour presentation requires some compromise...and it is meant to be entertainment after all.

I only had a couple criticisms. One, at 126 minutes, the movie was a little too long. I think 8-10 minutes of editing would have really tightened it up and eliminated a couple slower moments. Second, Sandra Bullock's accent seemed a little too forced at times. And finally, what happened to Steve Hamilton, the boy whose family Michael was staying with when he started attending Briarwood? Once introduced as his father pressures the coach for scholarships for Steve and Michael, he disappears from the movie. Minor issues that didn't keep this from being an extremely enjoyable movie, but did help keep it from being a perfect 10.

I must confess I was weeping 5 minutes into the movie and that's unusual for me. I had read the book and in the book nothing is that black or that white for that matter, but this is as movie and as a movie it works. I was expecting commercial interruptions every few minutes, the film felt so much like a TV movie. But that is not necessarily a bad thing. The Michael Oher story had to be told even with the poetic licenses that the film takes, shamelessly. Sandra Bullock plays herself beautifully as always and her character with all her saintly stern, southern modern American woman could not move away too far from "Miss Congeniality". But it works and at the end of the day, after paying the prices one pays at the box office, it's almost enough. Why they had to ruin it with an Oscar nomination? The nomination makes you look for something in her performance that clearly isn't there. If you go to a Sandra Bullock movie, the quality of the movie may vary but she is always terrific, playing that Sandra Bullock character. Good for her.